Scene With LaToya Jackson Gets Cut from ‘Bruno’.
By Ethan Smith
A question of timing — and taste?
A significant cut was made to Universal Pictures’ “Bruno,” excising a comic scene involving LaToya Jackson, just a few hours after her brother, pop star Michael Jackson, was pronounced dead at a Los Angeles hospital.
People close to the studio confirmed the last-minute edit, saying that even in the often-shocking comedy, jokes at the expense of the late Mr. Jackson would have been in poor taste. They said they did not expect the scene to be restored for the film’s commercial release, July 10.
The scene was in the movie during a Wednesday night screening, but absent at the film’s Hollywood premiere Thursday night.
During the scene, the character Bruno, played by comic Sacha Baron Cohen, creates a pretext to copy Michael Jackson’s telephone number from Ms. Jackson’s BlackBerry.
The edit appears to have been made on the fly, in the few hours between the pop star’s afternoon death and the 7:30 pm premiere.
Such last-minute adjustments are rare once a movie has been screened for critics and is ready for a splashy premiere.
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/06/26/scene-with-latoya-jackson-gets-cut-from-bruno/'Bruno' delays Hollywood Walk of Fame tribute to Michael Jackson
05:04 PM PT, Jun 25 2009
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef011570665b68970c-800wiFans hoping to pay their respects to Michael Jackson by visiting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame will have to wait until Friday morning. As news of Jackson's death spread Thursday afternoon, event crews in Hollywood were prepping for tonight's Hollywood premiere of "Bruno."
The Sacha Baron Cohen film will screen tonight at the Chinese Theatre, which is almost directly in front of Jackson's star. In the photo above, Jackson's star is near where the stage lights are stationed in the right of the picture. Fans trying to get a glimpse were turned back as they approached the Chinese Theatre. Though the Chamber of Commerce couldn't station the customary flowers, local street musicians cycled through Jackson hits.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will have a memorial up Friday at 9 a.m. There is a star dedicated to the Jacksons near the intersection of Vine Street and Sunset Boulevard, but that will not be outfitted with flowers, said a Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman.
Though the "Bruno" premiere will delay the unveiling of the Walk of Fame tribute, there is a Jackson connection in the film. Michael's sister La Toya briefly appears in "Bruno," as she's invited to be a guest on his fake talk show and "Bruno" pesters her to reveal Michael's phone number.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/06/bruno-delays-hollywood-walk-of-fame-tribute-to-michael-jackson.html
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